Camiños da auga, Fontes

Water of life and wealth, water that transforms granite into moss. It was this water, that is so present in Santiago, which had an important role in women’s work in Compostela until well into the 20th century. Chairs, buckets, bowls, soap, wind and sun, the rivers Sar and Sarela, the streams and fountains indicated the time, days and seasons of this work carried out by women, which was always badly paid and which led to illness, pain, cold and getting wet, but which also involved songs, laughter, fun and celebration. We can see this in the voices and the marks of its space and also in the many photographs of that time; young and old women, always anonymous… carriers and laundresses filled Compostela with life and work and they carried out a perfect recycling loop: homes got fresh water and ironed clothes and women got “yeast” and leftovers to feed the animals in the stables. It was a quiet, efficient and sustainable work performed with the good work of women which must be appreciated and recovered… as the writer Manuel Rivas states in O lapis do carpinteiro: